THE interest of foreign delegates expressed through exploratory trade missions should be converted into investments, said Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) official.
Arturo Milan, president of DCCCII said the current interest of foreign delegates visiting and exploring Davao City is into possible joint ventures with the Dabawenyo businessmen because of the city’s 60-40 business ownership limit. Because of this, Milan said he had been telling the members of the chamber to take this interest seriously.
“We need to convert these interests [into investment] because what’s interest if there is no conversion? Meaning, no actual investments coming in. These are all exploratory. We should be serious in trying to capture them and by being partners. The thrust is no longer just to promote but really about conversion. We have less than four years to go. We do not know if that attraction will still be there if there’s another president already so we have to take advantage of this,” he said.
Last year, a number of foreign delegates came to Davao City through different conferences. There were Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, and Japanese among others.
Yesterday, February 13, a 10-man delegation from Toronto, Canada met with DCCCII for a briefing and business matching. Some of the members of the delegation were into property development and construction materials.
Milan said they have no particular product and services they are looking for at Davao City but they are currently exploring what products they might be able to bring to Canada.
“The way things are going, Davao City is getting really to be attractive with all this indications of trade missions coming. We have to commend the efforts of the local government in trying to secure Davao City and also making Davao City as business-friendly as possible,” Milan said.